


Sleeping Like An Angel

by allthebeautifulthings9828



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fallen Castiel, Falling In Love, Human Castiel, Hurt Castiel, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, Love, M/M, Napping, POV Dean Winchester, Protective Dean Winchester, Sleep, Sleepiness, Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 08:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthebeautifulthings9828/pseuds/allthebeautifulthings9828
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An angel learning to be human is exhausting business. Castiel has taken to falling asleep in strange places, and each time Dean finds him, it wears down his defenses and reminds him of how fragile this being is now. He can't resist it when he finds Castiel asleep in the most surprising place yet. Are some things just meant to be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping Like An Angel

Watching Castiel sleep fascinated Dean. It happened accidentally at first. The fledgling human apparently didn't know when he felt tired in time to crawl in bed, so Dean found him slumped over the table in the bunker's main hall. His cheek smashed upward against the wood and he even drooled a little bit. Initially Dean chuckled in passing until it dawned on him exactly how human Castiel looked.

That wounded him in places he didn't understand.

Dean knew Castiel as an unmovable rock of immortality from the minute he strode into the barn exploding lightbulbs. It impressed the hell out of the hunter when he yanked that knife out of his chest without blinking. Even when the angel exploded, or puked up millions of souls, or any of the other ways he died, Dean always felt deep down that he was immortal and nothing could touch him. But seeing him asleep in the chair, slumped over the table like someone who had been working his entire life without rest - it suddenly made him look so _fragile_.

He could die. One gunshot in the wrong place, one knife stab to the gut, one monster taking a bite out of him… lights out. Dean realized one day he would have to bury Castiel the way he buried Bobby and everyone else he loved.

Dean left the former angel to nap on the table, suddenly feeling rather sick. It caused him unspeakable anguish to fear losing him - so unspeakable that he couldn't bring himself to talk to Sam about it. That was when he knew his feelings cut a lot deeper than he expected. If he couldn't talk to Sam, it was serious.

The second time Dean found Castiel asleep was in the back of the Impala. Three of them drove up to Canada to consult on a werewolf case with Canadian hunters but he knew Castiel wasn't ready for a hunt yet. He insisted that he could do it, though, and something in Dean resisted leaving him in the bunker for days as if he might disappear again. Although the hunt was pretty textbook and Sam was a little rusty, Castiel ended up making the kill. A rush of fear and exhilaration shot through Dean as he watched the werewolf woman make the attack and the former angel fight back like a combat expert. Then he remembered … he had been a combat expert in Heaven.

Castiel slept most of the drive home and Dean couldn't stop looking at him through the rear view mirror. He looked so uncomfortable with his head craned back on the seat and his shoulders slumped downward, but the light snoring meant it didn't bother him that much. It bothered Dean that he couldn't make him more comfortable, but what could he do? He shifted in the driver's seat and took a deep breath. He refocused on the road. Christ, he was acting like a girl with a crush.

The third time Dean found Castiel asleep surprised him not only in the spot he chose but how peaceful he looked.

"Cas?" said Dean gently. He sat on the edge of the bed. _His_ bed.

Eyes fluttered sleepily. His arms slid under the pillow, a new pro at the art of rest.

"What are you doing here?" Surprisingly, he didn't sound angry.

The way Castiel's voice sounded deep and drowsy sounded so foreign but intoxicating too. "I don't like my room, Dean."

"Why?"

"Nothing in that room reminds me of you." His drowsy voice bordered on talking in his sleep and Dean wondered if he was actually awake.

Silently, allowing Castiel to slip back under the blanket of unconsciousness, Dean slid under the blanket of his bed - now their bed. Maybe it didn't matter what they were before or what they were afterward but he knew in that moment, he wanted Castiel to enjoy the peace of humanity before his life became complicated again. Darkness always lurked out there somewhere stalking the Winchesters, and now this orphaned creature by association. For the moment, Dean could at least give him the comfort of rest.

None of it needed definition or explanation. Their bond never needed that, except when outsiders complicated things. If Dean thought about it too much, he would have tried to define it because society demanded definition, and then he would have denied them both what they wordlessly wanted.

His arm curled over Castiel's waist. They fit together like puzzle pieces with Dean's body snugly pressed along Castiel's back, spooning around his ass, and legs twisted in a knot. The scent of drugstore shampoo filled his nose as he slid his face closer to the back of Castiel's neck. It needed no words. It needed no definition. It needed no labels. Fear slowly gave way to the silent stillness of peace. Maybe tomorrow they wouldn't acknowledge it. They might even avoid each other. It may never even happen again. But for that night, sleeping curled up in one another, they were two people who needed comfort and affection to face the next battle.

A miracle happened that night as well, though neither of them ever talked about it. Dean's subconscious never tormented him with memories of Hell whenever he slept with Castiel and Castiel's subconscious never tormented him with memories of Heaven when he slept with Dean.

Some things are simply meant to be whether they're expected or not.


End file.
